Ladder hook



Aug. 3, 1937.

n. M. CONNELI. 2,088,895

LADDER HOOK FiledMay 18, 1936 Patented Aug. 3, 1937 I UNITED STATES LADDER HOOK Robert M. Connell, Dallas, Tex., assigner of fifty per cent to Carl S. Guthrie, Dallas, Tex.

Application May 18, 1936, Serial No. 80,262

6 Claims.

This invention relates to ladder hooks.

One object of the invention is to produce a simple yet strong and durable foldable hook that can be practically and safely applied to a ladder,

particularly to ladders used by re departments,

but without limitation to said use.

An important object is to provide a hook which is normally held releasably in closed position on the ladder and with no projecting portions, but

10 which may be moved on its pivot to an opened position and there securely held in its working condition whereby to hang the ladder from some ledge or engageable support, and yet may 5 be readily swung back to its closed position, at

Will.

Another object of the invention is to provide for movement of the hook in an opposite direction and to releasably hold it in an opened working position for a different placement and use of the ladder.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple yet strong and safe pivotal attaching means for the hook whereby it is easily and quickly movable into engaging relation with the respective retaining devices provided therefor in the opened and closed positions of the hook and also facilitating its disengagement from said retaining devices, at will.

A construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafter described, together with other features of the invention.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the following `specification and by reference to the accompanying drawing, in

which an example of the invention is shown, and

wherein:

` Figure 1 is a fragmentary View, in edge elevation, of the end portion of the stile or side rail of a ladder, showing also in edge view a hook applied in accordance with the present invention, a portion of the stile or side rail of the ladder being broken away and shown in section;

Figure 2 is a right face view of the ladder stile or side rail, showing the hook assembly in face view as applied to the ladder, the foldable hook member being shown in full lines in its closed position and in dotted lines in its diierent opened positions;

Figure 3 is a View on an enlarged scale, partly in section and partly in elevation, showing details l of the means for pivotally supporting the hook member, the section of the illustration being taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2; Y

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 4-'4 of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the end portion of a ladder equipped with a pair of hooks in accordance with the present invention, the 5 hook members being shown in full lines in their opened working position for. suspending the ladder from a supporting ledge or other engageable support, and by dotted lines in the closed and opposite opened position of the hooks. 1I)V Referring now to the drawing, the numeral I0 designates the stiles or side rail members of the ladder which, as shown, is of the foldable or collapsible type usually provided in the equipment of a lire department. As shown, there is a pair 15A of the stiles or side rail members I0 at each side of the ladder and between the Stiles of each pair the squared end portion II of the rung member I2- is pivoted, as at I3, by which arrangement and provision the ladder is obviously foldable to 20 compact condition when not in use. l

The ladder structure per se is not of the presentinvention and as far as the present invenf tion is concerned the hook device may be applied to either a rigid or a folding ladder. In either 25 casethe application of the device to the ladder and its advantages are the same but the hook ofthe present invention is particularly well adapted for the collapsible type of ladder shown in Figure 5 of the drawing, because in that 30 type of ladder it is particularlydesirable that in its closed condition there are no projecting parts andthe device of the present invention fulfills all the requirements. However, itis equally Well, adaptable to ladders of the rigid type as here- 35 inbefore stated. v 1

As shown, the device of the present invention comprises a body plate Ill` which is secured tothe ladder, at certain places, by screw bolts I5, the heads of which are counter-sunk into the plate 40 I4, while at other places special `securing bolts are used, as willvbe presently more fully described. The hook member I6, as shown, has a rounded and tapered end portion Il terminating in a point or sharpened edge I8. The opposite end ,45

portion of the hookmember I6 is provided with an aperture I9 to Ylit loosely on the pivot stud 20, (see Figure 3)., said stud 20 having its inner end portion screw-threaded, as at 2|, and inserted in the. Vcorrespondingly screw-threaded aperture "J provided therefor in the body plate I 4, where it is held securely by a nut 22 that is tightened against the inner face of. said body plate I4. The

knut 22-iswreceived ina recess 22 provided to 55 "i ance 29.

make clearance therefor in the stile I0 of the ladder. The outer end portion 23 of the stud or pivot bolt 20 is screw-threaded to receive a nut 24 which is preferably castellated or provided with a multiplicity of crossed grooves 25 in its outer end face to receive a Cotter pin or key 26 that is obviously placed in a transverse aperture provided therefor in the bolt 20, by which provision the nut 24 is locked in differently adjusted positions on said stud or bolt 20. Interposed between the nut 24 and the outer face of the hook member I6 is a helical spring 2l that is constantly under compression and functions to urge the hook member I6 towards and fiatwise against the outer face of the body plate I4,yet, due to the looseness between the wall of the aperture I9 of the hook member I6 and the stud or bolt 20, said spring element 21 is yieldable to permit 'the limited canting or tilting movement of the hook member on the stud or bolt 20 to an angle and at aY distance from the outer face of. the plate I4 to permit springing of the hook member I6 over and across retainingvheads or lugs 28, 29, 30, and 36, the details of which will be presently more fully described.

Normally, in the closed position of the hook member I6, said member I6 is held between the lug or head 28 and the opposed lug or protuber- As shown, the protuberance or lug 29 is struck up from or formed integrally with the body plate I4, but the head or lug 28 is provided on a bolt 3| which serves the dual purpose of holding the lug or head 28 and for securing the body plate I4 to the ladder stile or rail member I0. Also, as shown, the lug or head 36 is provided on a bolt 32 serving theV dual purpose like the bolt 3|. The lug or head v3E] is located in correlation to an outwardly overhanging shoulder or lug 33 on 'the upper end portion of the plate I4, said member 33 having a downwardly extending flange 34 at its outer end. The member 33 may be provided on the body plate I 4in any approved or desirable manner, but, as shown, it is provided integrally with the plate I4 by slitting the plate longitudinally from its upper end, as at 35, and bending or turning the portion 33 horizontally outward and then rebending the end portion 34 downwardly. The member 33 is provided to receive and support the hook member I6 in its opened position, as shown in dotted lines-in Figure 2 and in full lines in Figure 5 of the drawing, which is the position of the hook member to suspend the ladder from a supporting ledge or other engageable support when theladder is used in scaling a wall or for other uses requiring suspension of the ladder from the hook members I6.V

Preferably, the lugs or heads 28 and 30 are respectively formed with bevelled or inclined portions 28, 30', to facilitate the riding of the hook member I6 over the lugs or heads 28, 3U, in the movement of the hook member I6'in one direction, that is to say, when the hook member is moved over the head 28 to its closed position or over the head 30 to its opened or ladder suspending position under the retaining `shoulder or extension 33.V In this connection, it is here noted that the heads'28 and 30 are abruptly shouldered at their sides opposite to the inclined or bevelled portions 28 and 30', respectively. 'Ihis is to afford a more secure retention of the hook member I6 in its closed and opened positions as just above described. So, too, the downwardly extending flange or lug 34 at the outer end of the portion 33 of the body plate I4 serves to prevent accidental disengagement of the hook member' I6 from the supporting shoulder or extension 33 of the body plate I4, said depending portion 34 being spaced from the outer face of the body plate I 4 a distance just sufficient to permit movement of the hook member I6 over the head 30 and between the body plate and said portion 34 in moving the hook member to its opened working position and back to its normally closed position.

As shown in Figure 2, the hook member I6 may ybe .sprung or canted on the pivot stud 2D, outwardly from the face of the body plate I4, and moved over the lug or protuberance 29 to the position shown in dotted lines with its hooked end I'I projected beyond the plane of the ladder, in which position the hook member I6 is moved over the end of a stud or lug member 36 which is riveted, as at 3l, to the body plate I4. The stud 36 is provided with an undercut shouldered portion 38 in which the adjacent edge portion of the hook member I6 is engaged and retained in its opened position, and at the opposite side of the stud or lug 3E it is relieved of a sharp corner by rounding or bevelling it off, as at 39, to facilitate the riding of the hook member I6 over the stud or lug 36 to its opened position. In this last described opened position of the hook members I6, it is obvious that the ladder may be inverted, that is to say, with the ends thereof to which the hook devices are applied disposed downwardly, and the ladder laid substantially fiat-wise on an inclined surface, such as a roof or the like, the sharpened end portions I8 of the hooks Il'y take into the material of the surface on which the ladder is reposed or engage intosome retaining recess or against a shoulder, thereby preventing slippage of th-e ladder downwardly.

In the particular construction .and arrangement of the device illustrated in the accompanying drawing, the hook member I6 is held with relative security in its closed position, in which position the hook elementds located entirely within the `marginal borders of the ladder frame, so that there `is no projecting part to `catch into or onto anything extraneous that might interfere .with the handling of the ladder before the time it is necessary or desirable to place the hook members I6 in opened working position for suspendingor holding the ladder in use. At the same time, the hook member I6 is readily movable from its closed position to either of its two opened working positions, in which working position the hook member I6 is securely held against accidental displacement, thereby making for the required safety in the use of a deviceof this character. Y

Obviously, thedevice admits of considerable modification within the spirit and scope of the invention as dened in the appended claims. 'I'he invention, therefore, is not limited to the particular construction and arrangement shown in the accompanying illustrative drawing.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. A ladder hook comprising, a body plate attachable to the ladder,V a hook member pivotally secured on said body plate, means for releasably holding said hook member in closed position within the marginal confines of saidr body plate and without projection from the ladder, supporting means on said body plate into engagement with which said hook member is movable and releasably held in projected ladder supporting position, and another supporting member on said body plate into engagement with which said hook member is movable and releasably held with its hooked end portion projected from the opposite side of the ladder.

2. A ladder hook comprising, a body plate attachable to the side of a ladder, a hook member pivotally mounted on said body plate and capable of limited movement transversely of its swinging movement from its pivotal axis, a pair of opposed protuberances on said body plate between which said hook member is releasably held in closed position within the marginal confines of Said body plate, a supporting shoulder on said body plate contiguous to and in parallel relation with a line transversely of the body plate and in the plane of the pivotal axis of said hook member, a protuberance on said body plate in correlation to said supporting shoulder and to a position between which and said shoulder said hook member is movable and releasably held in opened ladder suspending position, and an undercut shouldered protuberance on said body plate over and into engagement with which said hook member is moved in an opposite direction, in which position the hooked portion of said hook member is projected into ladder supporting position at the Side opposite to that from which the hook member is projected in ladder suspending position.

3. In combination with a ladder, a supporting device, comprising, a body plate attached tothe side frame member of the ladder, a hook member pivotally attached to said body plate, an overhanging marginally shouldered stop on said body plate under which said hook member is supported in opened ladder-supporting position, and a surface projection on said body plate in correlation to said stop to releasably hold said hook member in its said opened position and over and across which said hook member is forcibly lifted and moved on its pivot to its opened position and back to its closed position, at will, said hook member having limited spring-resisted lifting movement from the face. of said body plate and inclinedly from its place of pivotal attachment to said plate.

4. InI combination with a ladder, a supporting device, comprising, a body plate `attached to the side frame member of the ladder, a hook member pivotally attached to said body plate, an overhanging marginally shouldered stop on said body plate under which said hook member is supported in opened ladder-supporting position, a surface projection on said body plate in correlation to said stop to releasably hold said hook member in its said opened position and over and across which said hook member is forcibly lifted and moved on its pivot to its opened position and back to its closed position, at will, said hook member having limited lifting movement from the face oi said body plate and inclinedly from its place of pivotal attachment to said plate, and spring means applied to the pivoted end portion of said hook member to normally press said hook member to said body plate.

5. In a ladder hook device, a body plate attachable to the ladder, a hook member pivotally attached to said body plate and movable to a ladder supporting position with its hook portion projected beyond one side of the ladder and to another supporting position with its hook portion projected beyond the opposite side of the ladder, stop members on said body plate respectively located for engagement and support of said hook member in its ladder supporting positions, correlated surface projections on said body plate, one of said projections being located in spaced cooperative relation to one of said stop members to releasably hold said hook member in supportable relation to said stop member, and a pair of said projections being located in spaced cooperative relation to each other whereby to receive and releasably hold between them said hook member in a neutral position and contained entirely within the compass of the ladder.

6. In a ladder hook device, a body plate, a hook member pivotally mounted thereon, the pivotal provision comprising a stud on said body plate and said hook member having an aperture in one end portion to t loosely over said stud to afford transverse canting vas well as rotative movement on said stud, spring means normally urging said hook member towards and against said body plate, a stop member on said body plate, against which said hook member is swung on its pivot to a projected position whereby to suppo'rt thetladdenanda surface projection located on said body plate in spaced cooperative relation to said stop member whereby to releasably hold said hook member in its projected ladder supporting position and over which said hook member is lifted by force to swing it in either direction on its pivot, and a spaced cooperative pair of surface projections on said body plate to receive and releasably retain between them said hook member in a neutral retracted position entirely within the compass of the ladder.

ROBERT M. CONNELL. 

